Burnt Fried Chicken
by Charxelle
Summary: A heartwarming story of how Nadeshiko Kinomoto died and what Fujitaka's reaction was. Burnt fried chicken included. FujitakaxNadeshiko, naturally.


**Okay, second CCS fanfic. Weird title, right? Well, if you read, you'll find out why it's "Burnt Fried Chicken." Enjoy and remember to review!!**

**This fanfic stars Fujitaka and Nadeshiko Kinomoto, the only married pair shown in the entire CCS series. I was getting tired that most of the fanfics starred Sakura and Syaoran, so I opted for a change.**

**Now read!**

**Burnt Fried Chicken**

Fujitaka, on one of his rare day-offs, was left in the Kinomoto residence. His two children out at school, to be back that evening, with Yukito over for dinner, as usual.

He sipped his weak chamomile tea while watching TV and reading the newspaper at the same time. He put his teacup down on its saucer, beside a picture of his wife on the coffee table.

"The kids are out today and I'm here alone with you, isn't that nice?" Fujitaka smiled at the picture, which sweetly smiled back in reply.

Nadeshiko Kinomoto. Married at 16 to a high school professor and had two children. Lived a happy but short life. Died at the age of 27.

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"I'm home!" Fujitaka called as he wearily entered his humble home. Loud thumps were heard from upstairs as the children rushed down to greet their daddy.

"Papa! Papa! Papa!" Two very eager children raced to hug their father first, and Sakura lost the race again. Touya stuck a tongue out at her and Sakura pouted and painlessly slapped his arm.

"Hey, hey, no fighting." The affectionate father ordered. "We're a family here ok? Now, where's you mother?"

"I'm here!" she called out from the kitchen. Fujitaka went to the kitchen and greeted her with a warm smile and a peck on the cheek while Nadeshiko peppered a fish.

"I smell something burning." He commented, sniffing the air. He knew Nadeshiko was just a beginner when it came to cooking and smelling something burning was normal.

"Burning?" she sniffed the air too but couldn't smell it. Her nose had become accustomed to the smell. "I don't smell something. The fried chicken looks nice and brown now."

Fujitaka snapped his head to the direction of the frying pan. Indeed, there was some fried chicken cooking and yes it was brown…and black on the opposite side.

"It's burnt!" Fujitaka grabbed a pair of tongs and fished the chicken out of the oil. He turned it around and showed the burnt part to his wife.

"Sorry…" she sheepishly said. "I guess I don't know how to fry properly yet."

Fujitaka had an idea. He went to the living room, fished the polaroid off the shelf and returned to the kitchen.

"One for the record. Hold the pan up." he said. Nadeshiko managed to smile before the flash.

"Nice." he commented. Then he frowned at the chicken.

"Why don't you let me cook?" Fujitaka said, using the tongs to flip the other pieces of chicken.

"I can do this. You must be tired from all your work, hun. Let me cook, just give me some instructions, and guide me when I'm wrong and take over when something's burning and…" Nadeshiko sighed. "Okay, fine, you do it."

Fujitaka chuckled. "Alright." Nadeshiko nodded and proceeded to set up the table instead.

After setting down the last glass, she plopped herself down on the living room couch and wiped her forehead. "I'm tired."

"Mommy!" Sakura screamed from upstairs. "Big brother's scaryyyyyyyyy!!" she stumbled down the stairs and flew into her mother's arms. "He says there's a monster in his closet and he's keeping it as a pet so I can't go in his room!" she sobbed into her mother's apron.

"I was joking!" Touya shouted from upstairs.

"There, there." She stroked her daughter's hair. "Your big brother's just joking. There are no such things as monsters, I told you that." Sakura wiped her tears with her hand.

"No such things as monsters…"she repeated. "Okay…"

"Dinner's ready!" Fujitaka announced. Nadeshiko held little Sakura's hand while walking to the kitchen. Touya came down from his room.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a monster!" Touya said. Sakura quivered and turned away from her brother.

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"Goodnight, Touya." Nadeshiko tucked in her son and kissed him on the forehead. Touya smiled under his covers as his mother quietly left the room and silently closed the door. She tiptoed into hers and Fujitaka's bedroom and slipped into her side of the bed.

"Are the kids asleep?" her husband asked as he turned to face her.

"Yes. Goodnight. Love you." Nadeshiko pulled on her blanket.

"Love you too."

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"Nadeshiko? You have a fever. Are you alright?" Fujitaka felt his wife's forehead and she was heating up. Nadeshiko was awake in bed and she was shivering.

"I'll get you some medicine. Don't you move." Fujitaka ordered as he went to the bathroom and searched for the box where all the medicines were placed. He took out a paracetamol and filled a glass with water.

"Here," he helped her sit up to take the medicine. Nadeshiko weakly held the glass in her hand, almost dropping it. After she took the medicine, she carefully lay back down and resumed her shivering. Fujitaka was deeply concerned for her wife. He called one of the teachers at the university to tell the dean he and Nadeshiko will be absent for the day.

For the rest of the day, while Touya and Sakura were at school, Nadeshiko lay in bed, coughing, shivering, and making frequent bathroom visits, much to her husband's dismay. He stayed with her for the rest of the day, making her some warm soups, hoping it would ease her sore throat, only to find it all regurgitated in the toilet.

"Maybe we should take you to a hospital." Fujitaka said.

"No, I don't need to go. Maybe I'm pregnant and this is morning sickness." Nadeshiko thought.

"Well, if we're having another child, that would be great. But you've been sick the whole day. It's 4:00." Fujitaka answered. Nadeshiko frowned.

"Can you stand?" he asked. Nadeshiko nodded and got off the bed. But as soon as she stood, she fell back down on the bed. It was Fujitaka's turn to frown.

"D-don't worry," Nadeshiko tried to smile. "M-maybe it'll be gone tomorrow."

Fujitaka thought for a moment and agreed. "You're right."

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The next morning, Nadeshiko was hyperventilating. Her body was tensed and her cough was as worse as ever. Fujitaka brought her to the Tomoeda hospital.

"Is she alright?" Fujitaka worriedly questioned the doctor when he came out of Nadeshiko's ward.

"After the testing, it looks like Mrs. Kinomoto has SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome." The doctor announced. "This is considered a rare disease and it may take her a while to heal, even with the medicines we're giving her."

Fujitaka nodded and thanked the doctor before entering the ward but he was escorted out by a nurse. Apparently, Nadeshiko needed to be isolated in order to heal. Fujitaka just sat in the waiting room, hoping his wife would get better.

A couple of hours later, Touya and Sakura arrived at the Tomoeda hospital, informed by their teachers who wre told by Fujitaka that their mother was sick in the hospital. They found their father in the waiting room.

"Is Mama gonna be okay?" Sakura asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Is Mama gonna die?" Touya asked; his hands balled into tight little fists.

Fujitaka managed a fake smile. "She's going to be fine but the doctor says that Mama's going to stay in the hospital for a while."

"I wanna see Mama…" Sakura sobbed as her father patted her head.

"I'm afraid we can't see her. She needs to be alone." Fujitaka answered, worried.

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A whole month passed by and Nadeshiko just got sicker every passing day. There was no known cure for her sickness. Fujitaka only got to see her once, covered up in tubes and blankets and dozens of medical equipment to help her keep breathing.

"How is she?" Fujitaka asked the doctor, with Sakura and Touya beside him.

"Well, she only has a few more days. Currently, there is no known cure for her disease, even with the outbreaks in South-East Asia. I suggest you go talk to her." The doctor sadly reported. Fujitaka silently nodded and led his children to her ward.

Before they went in, nurses told them to put on a mask because her disease was viral. They were also told that they could talk to her for only about a minute.

Sakura ran to her mother on the bed; crying.

"Mama! Mama!" she sobbed into her hand. Touya walked to the stretcher, avoiding all the wires that were connected to his mother, all the while holding back his tears. Fujitaka had a sad expression on his face, seeing his wife all connected to all the medical equipment like she was some kind of power source.

"Nadeshiko, can you hear me?" he said to her, looking for at her face for a reply. Unfortunately, she didn't move. She was unconscious at the moment but Fujitaka was determined.

"Well, you have been here for quite a while now. I hope you get better." He grabbed a chair and sat himself down. Sakura followed suit and grabbed a nearby stool. Fujitaka took hold of her hand.

"Please get better. We want you to go home. I feel lonely knowing you're not there. The house seems empty." He continued.

"Yeah, get well soon, Mama." Touya added.

"I want Mama home!" Sakura wailed.

Nadeshiko's face didn't budge. Fujitaka held her hand and squeezed it gently, hoping she would squeeze it back. He felt a very faint one, but it was enough to tell that Nadeshiko heard her family.

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Four days later, during one of his class lectures, Fujitaka received a call from the Tomoeda hospital, telling him Nadeshiko had just died. Fujitaka's eyes widened and held his breath as he took in all the information the doctor was giving over the phone. The students who were in his class knew about Nadesico's disease and were getting jitters when they saw their professor gasp.

When Fujitaka uttered a thank-you, he told the class he had to rush to the hospital. Just before he was about to run to the door, Sonomi grabbed his arm.

"I'm coming too! Whatever's the matter with Nadeshiko, I want to be there for her!" she said. Fujitaka nodded and they both ran to the university's parking lot.

When they got there, the doctor who told Fujitaka about the news was waiting for them at the waiting room. He merely nodded and led a very tense Fujitaka and a very worried Sonomi to her ward.

On the bed was Nadeshiko, no longer connected to machines. She lay there, motionless and pale, covered up to her neck in a blanket. Fujitaka scanned her wife's face for any sign of remaining life, but there was nothing but the blankness of death.

Fujitaka slowly walked to her stretcher and kneeled t its side. He took her cold hand in his.

"Nadeshiko…" he shook as he spoke, his voiced choked with sadness. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. It was still as smooth but the usual warmth was absent. Finally Fujitaka broke down and cried on her bed. The love of his life was gone forever.

Sonomi stared at her dead cousin's blank face. She loved Nadeshiko very much and now she was dead. Tears were streaming down her face. It was all this man's fault! Fujitaka Kinomoto. He had taken her away and shortened her life by how many decades?

Sonomi ran away from the scene, sobbing as hard as she could.

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A few hours later, Fujitaka called Sakura's and Touya's teachers about the situation. They were immediately excused and sent home.

"Mamaaa…" Sakura cried on her father's lap, tears pouring out. Touya cried in his room, pounding his pillow into the wall.

Fujitaka sat on the family couch, silently letting his own tears fall while 3-year old Sakura did the same in his arms. Her mother was gone before she could really get to know her, even though she was close to her mother.

Touya was really close to his mother and was devastated to learn she was gone. She taught him how to play the piano and even taught him the song she composed: Nukumori no Kioku. He cried out his sadness and punched his anger into the pillow.

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It was a sunny afternoon, Nadeshiko's favorite time of the day. The Kinomoto and the Amamiya family wept while the pristine white coffin was laid into the dirt. The wake had been melancholy, with all the relatives coming, some even murmuring curses at Fujitaka, blaming him that Nadeshiko died at a very young age. Everyone was dressed in black.

The soil covered the coffin and a priest preached about death and where dearest Nadeshiko is right now. Fujitaka didn't hear a word of the priest.

As soon as the grass was laid on top of the soil, the gravestone with the words picked out by Nadeshiko's mother and father.

_**Nadeshiko Kinomoto**_

_**Loving Wife, Mother, and Daughter**_

_**Died at the age of 27**_

"I miss Mama." Touya said. He clasped his sister's hand tighter.

Sakura took in involuntary hiccupped sobs. "M-me too."

They were the last ones left. Everybody else left the memorial park.

"Let's go now." Fujitaka said and he escorted his children into the car. He looked back at the grave where his love was. She was dead but he could feel her presence in his heart and his memories.

For Fujitaka, "Till death do us part" was not true.

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"Dad, we're home!" Sakura called out as she entered the house.

"I'm over here!" Fujitaka waved from the kitchen. He was preparing dinner, as usual.

"Good evening, Mr. Kinomoto. Thanks for inviting me over for dinner again." Yukito bowed slightly. Fujitaka nodded in reply.

"So what have you been doing all day, Dad?" Touya asked. "You're all alone here."

"No I'm not." Fujitaka smiled. "Your mother's been keeping me company all day." he pointed to her picture frame on the counter. In it was a picture of Nadeshiko, smiling sheepishly as she showed the camera her burnt chicken.

"Oh right!" Sakura enthusiastically said. "Thanks for keeping Dad company, Mom!" she grinned at the picture of Nadeshiko on the counter.

Then Touya suddenly jumped. His mother's ghost was right beside his father; her hand wrapped around his waist, watching him intently in hopes of learning how to cook.

"Mom was never a great cook, was she?" Touya joked.

"Really now?" Yukito turned to his friend. "I bet I could eat whatever she made." he chuckled.

"Touya, you're so rude!" Sakura pouted.

"Well, it's true. Look she's-" he cut himself off before he said it.

"She's what?" Fujitaka turned to Touya; curious. Nadeshiko's ghost turned to look at Touya too.

"Um...uh...look at mom!" Touya turned the picture frame in the direction of Fujitaka. "She's...watching you cook so...she can learn!" he smiled sheepishly.

Fujitaka smiled at the picture frame. "Well, aren't you learning fast?" he joked. Nadeshiko's ghost giggled.

Sakura looked at Touya knowingly. Touya saw her and bent to whisper. "Mom's really watching Dad, y'know."

**Okay, was that heartwarming or what? :D **

**Why SARS? because I read that SARS has no immediate cure yet and its considered rare and the illness wasn't mentioned anywhere, it just said Nadeshiko died of illness.**

**Now, please review. I hope you liked!**


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